Charvel Blog

The Charvel Custom Shop is celebrating its 40th Anniversary with a throwback collection hearkening back to the very genesis of Charvel. Eleven unmistakably colorful Charvel creations that perfectly recreate the dawn of hot-rodded high-performance sound, style and playability.

The 11 models in the 40th Anniversary Custom collection are reverently crafted recreations of some of Charvel’s original 1979 catalog offering. These bad boys are not only outfitted with select retro specs, but they were built old-school style, just like their ancestors.

Charvel 40th San Dimas Hot Rod Flames

This axe is on fire! This San Dimas Style 1 is wrapped in perhaps one of the most iconic graphic in Charvel history as red and orange flames reach out against the blue paint as if they are ready to engulf the guitar. Diehard fans of the brand will enjoy this trip down memory lane from a time when guitars were just as eccentric as the guys playing them.

The alder body is paired with a bolt-on quartersawn maple neck, featuring a straight 11”-radius rosewood fingerboard with 21 frets for the speediest single-note soloing.

A single DiMarzio® Super Distortion pickup delivers balls-to-the-wall tone with plenty of hot output. It may be standard these days, but back then adding a Floyd to a Super Strat was sacrilegious. Charvel did it anyway, and continues to do so here with a Floyd Rose® Original tremolo for pure wanking enjoyment.

Charvel 40th San Dimas Style 1 Cherry Burst

The Cherry Burst finish over the flame maple top of this San Dimas Style 1 is sweetness personified. A single humbucking Seymour Duncan® JB Trembucker cuts through the mix with unstoppable midrange attack, ideal for heavier riffing.

Charvel 40th San Dimas Style 1 Candy Apple Red

The 40th San Dimas Style 1 in a delicious Candy Apple Red wrapping with a maple fingerboard and gold hardware is one bodacious axe for the ages. Triple single-coil Fender® Samarium Cobalt Noiseless pickups deliver vintage hot-rod, snappy Strat tones, while the quartersawn maple neck features a straight 11”-radius maple fingerboard with rolled edges and retro 1/4” black dot inlays, just like the ones the almighty rock gods of the ‘80s used to rip on.

Charvel 40th San Dimas Style 1 Pink Bullseye

Charvel scores a direct hit with this one as another one of its iconic graphic patterns takes shape here with a Pink and Black bullseye paint job on this 40th San Dimas Style 1. This old-school style axe is loaded with a single DiMarzio® DP102 X2N humbucking bridge pickup for pure high gain bliss, while the 11”-radius straight rosewood fingerboard features rolled edges and 21 frets for your tapping pleasure.

This custom 40th Star will quickly ensnare you with its famed old-school black spider web graphic against the ultra-pink finish. Its specs include a quartersawn maple neck topped with a rolled 11”-radius rolled rosewood fingerboard with 21 frets, single DiMarzio® Super Distortion® humbucking bridge pickup, Floyd Rose Original and gold hardware.

Charvel 40th Star Shazam Lightning Bolt

Whoever said lightning never strikes twice obviously hasn’t played the 40th Star Shazam Lightning Bolt, which rocks Charvel’s iconic Star body shape in a Gold finish with a Shazam Lightning Bolt graphic and a rosewood fingerboard. Dressed in stunning style, this axe is also ready to bring the thunder with a DiMarzio® X2N bridge humbucker.

Charvel 40th San Dimas PJ Bass Lime Gold

All you low-end junkies out there are in for a treat. The monster 40th San Dimas PJ Bass in an attention Lime Gold wrapping packs plenty of rolling punches with a DiMarzio® Model P® neck pickup and DiMarzio Area J™ bridge pickup. The alder body is paired with a quartersawn maple neck and a maple fingerboard that features retro ¼” black dot inlays.

Charvel 40th San Dimas PJ Bass Taxi Cab Yellow

The 40th San Dimas PJ Bass in Taxi Cab Yellow with rosewood fingerboard sure as hell isn’t for backseat drivers. Loaded with a DiMarzio® Model P® neck pickup and DiMarzio Area J™ bridge pickup, this startling bass delivers deep growling notes and is ready to command the stage.

This 40th XP Bass certainly puts on a show with its dynamic shape and eye-popping Platinum Pink finish. This bass radiates with booming tone courtesy of a DiMarzio® Model P® neck pickup and DiMarzio Area J™ bridge pickup.